Sister Act tour?- Page 6

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 11/21/12 at 12:56pm

I saw the tour last night, and I feel so indifferent about it. I saw it on Broadway three times (Rashidra, Patina, Raven), and so much of the magic is gone. There are a few glimmering moment yes, but all in all this production fell flat. This production while enjoyable, didn't make me want to see the show again like I did the previous times I saw it.

First off Ta'Rea and Kingsley aren't listening and reacting onstage what so ever. I know Kingsley has been with the show for a while, but Ta'Rea is new and the amount of anticipating going on last night was very distracting.

Ta'Rea is very good, and very different as Deloris. At times I feel like she's trying to fight against what Patina created and sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't. Her voice is stellar. My biggest complaint is that she doesn't really get the character's humor until she's taken to the convent. There's so much rich material in the scenes before that moment that fall totally flat. The police station scene wasn't nearly as funny as it could be. That's actually one of the funniest scenes to me. Also she did a lot of indicating during Fabulous Baby. There was a lot of acting out the words which I don't feel is necessary. This sounds like a pan, but everything after the Police Station scene got progressively better, and she totally brings the second act to life.

I know there was a lot of controversy in this thread about Lael Van Keuren's performance, but I thought she was amazing. In fact, The Life I Never Led received the most audible applause out of every number in the show. She has a beautiful voice and those notes seem more full than Marla's. I never got the shrieking feeling from Lael that I got from Marla and I never felt like she was going to crack like I did when I was watching Marla. Also, I know there was some mention about her size. I don't know if she's lost weight or not, but she's quite petite now. She's also much shorter than the woman that plays Mary Patrick. Her physique definitely makes sense in this production. She really was fantastic!

Hollis was fine as Mother Superior, her acting isn't as flushed out as Carolee's nor is her singing, but she has a lot of nice moments. E. Clayton Cornelius is charming as Eddie, and he took the character in a very different yet effective direction. I REALLY missed Demond Green as TJ. I never realized how much I liked that character until I saw the show without him. He was so good!

The set is essentially all backdrops, but it's not awful, just different. One last thing that really annoyed me was Deloris' double in the first chase scene is much too thin to go on when Ta'Rea is Deloris. It's painfully obvious. My friend who's never seen the show noticed immediately and so did other patrons in the audience.

Happy to answer any questions. Updated On: 11/21/12 at 12:56 PM

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 11/21/12 at 1:16pm

Did anybody get to see Alysha Deslorieux as Deloris? I know she went on a few weeks ago and on Broadway too, I believe.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 11/21/12 at 1:33pm

I'm curious to know what the show will be like with her. She's very pale. I was in the balcony and if I didn't know to look for her I would have thought that there were only two black nuns (Ta'Rea and Trisha) Her complexion has nothing to do with her capability and I know that African-Americans come in all different shades, but I don't know if the African nun jokes and all will make sense. I'd love to see her. I'm very curious.

[shrekster224]

Posted: 11/21/12 at 1:34pm

Sad to hear that you say you think it's lost it's magic, and I do honestly believe the Broadway production had it. It started with Patina and Victoria Clark and a perfect ensemble of characters, and even seeing the third to last show I felt like Raven kept it alive, and Carolee blew it out of the water. Kingsley, though, was kind of marking the last time I saw the show, and I was surprised because he was fantastic the other times I saw it. Hoping to see Alysha go on for Deloris but wouldn't mind seeing Ta'Rea at all.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 11/21/12 at 2:17pm

Here's a video of Trisha singing Fabulous Baby.
Here

[CrazierThanYou]

Posted: 11/22/12 at 5:52pm

Saw the show in Chicago and absolutely LOVED it! I hadn't seen the show before and wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. Not a huge fan of the Auditorium Theatre when it comes to Broadway In Chicago shows, but the sounds was excellent and the audience very responsive.

The sets were fairly simple. It seemed that they had a rectangular center unit that changed over from the nightclub, to the police station, bar, etc... and the rest was all painted drops and show portals. But it still was fabulous!

The cast rocked and I would love to see the show again!

P.S. I saw the Wednesday matinee (day before Thanksgiving) and there was a pre Act II announcement saying that two of the roles would now be played by different actors. Slightly confusing.....any insights?

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 4:04pm

Has anybody seen the show recently?

[DEClarke]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 9:17pm

I'll be seeing it in May.

[zamedy]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 10:29pm

Just saw the show TWICEE during its stop last week at Shea's in Buffalo and I absolutely loved it. A great night of musical comedy. Ta'Rea rocked it. The girl can SINNNG! Damn! I felt she was definitely 'acting' the part in the first half of the first act rather than 'being Delores.' But as the show went on, they became one in the same. The show definitely gets off to a slow start. But once we finally get in the convent and meet the nuns (who we're all there to see), things really start cooking. 'Raise Your Voice' was definitely a highlight. AMAZING engery and singing. Got a HUGE response from the audience on the Saturday night I saw it.

Florrie Bagel is absolute PERFECTION as the always bubbly Sister Mary Patrick. The audience couldn't get enough of her.. all the way to the curtain call. And Lael Van Keuren brought the 'wow' factor to Sister Mary Robert.

Yes it's predictable..and yes they could have cut a few unmemorable songs that just seemed thrown in there for the heck of it. But overall I really loved this show and can't say enough about this cast. They were all fresh, fun and just seemed to be having a ball up there. God bless them all.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 10:55pm

the tour is already scheduled to run longer than the Broadway production did(it's booked through summer 2014). And I wouldn't be suprised if the tour continued past summer 2014, even if it's non-equity.

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 6:32am

I've noticed Blair Goldberg and Ashley Moniz have left/are leaving the cast very soon. Does anyone know who's replacing them? On a side show, has anybody gotten to see Alysha Deslorieux as Deloris?

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 5/10/13 at 3:36pm

I saw the tour is making some stops through May 2014. Does anyone know if it will be the current tour or will it be a non equity tour?

[dreaming]

Posted: 5/10/13 at 4:14pm

Is Hollis Resnik still in the show? I'd love to know what people thought of her as Reverend Mother, especially as she's had time to get comfortable in the role.

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 5/10/13 at 9:12pm

I saw this show back in January and loved it! The show itself wasn't amazing but I really liked it. Ta'rea Campbell is amazing and so is Hollis Resnik. E. Clayton Cornellious is the real standout in the show, he was fantastic.

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 5/10/13 at 9:33pm

I saw the show a while back as well, and I thought it was pretty rough. I saw the Broadway show with Patina and Carolee who both were infinitely better than Ta'rea and Hollis. Hollis could barely sing the score, it was embarrassing.

Lael Van Keuron was the real standout of the evening for me.

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 6:37pm

Chester Gregory has joined the tour as Eddie. Has anyone heard of any other recent/upcoming cast changes? The website hasn't been updated in a while

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 7:11pm

I know that Trisha Jeffrey isn't with the tour anymore. The name of the replacement Deloris understudy escapes me right now. Sorry.

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 7:19pm

Mary Searcy is the new Deloris understudy and Carla Woods also now covers the role. I guess Gisela Adisa has left the show unless they now have 3 Deloris covers?

[ElphabaGoodman]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 8:31pm

Wow! I saw Mary as Deena in a regional production of Dreamgirls back in 2007 and she was incredible! Great news.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/17/13 at 9:06pm

I saw the tour several times in San Diego including the Deloris standby (I believe it was Alysha Deslorieux) and the understudy for Mary Lazarus who I thought was a major disappointment compared to Diane Findlay. To her credit though, I understood every word of her rap that night which I couldn't say of Diane all the times I saw her. Unfortunately, I'm not sure which actress was on that night so I can't give her proper credit for that.

I thought Hollis Resnik was wonderful. Mother Superior is definitely written to be a lot meaner in the stage version than she is in the film, but I think that ads more to her transformation by the end of the show, and I think Hollis handled that transition well. Her song in the second act was a major highlight and I was disappointed to see that it wasn't in the original London production and so not included on the CD they sold in the lobby. As a side note they actually sold out of CDs in San Diego and had to go a few performances without, but they were back in stock by the weekend performances. (Clearly a Broadway cast recording would have sold very well on tour.)

I thought Ta'Rea was very charming as Deloris. The energy she brings to the role and to the show was very apparent when she was absent and her standby didn't land as many of the jokes. Her voice is very strong and I actually preferred her vocals to Patina's on the CD.

I didn't see the show on Broadway, but comparing the pictures in the souvenir brochure it looks like the scenery was a lot more elaborate on Broadway and the tour is pretty bare bones. As pointed out above it's basically just a few backdrops, lighted windows and some tables and chairs that track on and off. That's a little disappointing because I think the show could have benefit from a more elaborate design, but I understand how costly it is to tour a large set. It definitely looks better from the center of the house and seated further back. The closer you are the cheaper it looks.

There was even an incident on the first night when the crosses that come down from the fly space for "Raise Your Voice" came down much too far, hit the stage floor and got tangled with the cut out drop of the church pillars. The crosses were raised back up about midway and that untangled them allowing the pillars to reach the stage floor and the crosses to be moved to their correct position. The show was not stopped and the actors continued the scene as if the scenery was not going haywire directly behind them.

Despite my comments on the scenery, which in reality I didn't even notice until I flipped through the brochure after the fact, I thought the cast was very strong and the tour is in good shape. I just wish there was an updated cast recording to remember it by.

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 8/24/13 at 8:22pm

It's Lael's last show tonight. Anyone know who is replacing her as Mary Robert?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/24/13 at 9:09pm

It definitely looks better from the center of the house and seated further back. The closer you are the cheaper it looks.

I definitely agree. The set definitely worked, but it was VERY cheap looking at times. The actual practical pieces looked great. It was the backdrops that were wrinkled and folded over. You think it would have been the other way around. i thought the tiny little cluster of signs that was flown in for the street scenes and I Could Be That Guy were VERY cheap looking, and WAY too small. They could have done more with that.

[Zingingtobway]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 9:25pm

^ Gisela Adisa was Great as Deloris. Is she no longer on tour. Wow what Sass and a Great Voice.

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 9/5/13 at 11:11am

Ashley Moniz is now full time Mary Robert. Any idea when Ta'Rea leaves?

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/8/13 at 6:33am

Saw the show last night in DC and although Gisela Adisa is still with Sister Act, she's not listed as a Deloris understudy. Loved, loved, LOVED Ta'Rea as Deloris. I, too, prefer her vocals over Patina's. Ashley Moniz was wonderful as Mary Robert. The show just kind of plods along until Raise Your Voice (even the audience response was lackluster until that point). Saw Jerry Zaks in the main hall prior to the show last night.

Very empty house at The Kennedy Center last night. Was very surprised that discounts weren't released until a couple of weeks ago, whereas, Anything Goes discounts were listed about a month or so before its run. Either way, by the end of the show, the audience was very appreciative. Picked up another ticket for the matinee on Sunday. Just love hearing the vocals live.